A Chance Meeting
by Arysthae
Summary: The first day Susan Pevensie met Tom Riddle, she thanked Aslan for giving her the strength to ignore his advances... The second day she met him, she hoped that she would survive. The last day she met him, she hoped that he might have repented over his life. Implied Susan/Tom if you squint. Rated K for non-graphic violence and Tom being generally creepy.
1. Chapter 1

**A Chance Meeting**

The day Susan met Tom Riddle was a stormy day. It was 1951, two years after the train station accident and Susan was on break from the administrational work of the Labour representative of Finchley. For the past month, she had been clearing out the Professor's house from the many, frankly useless relics. She had kept the wardrobe of course, and the many other sentimental objects that Susan either wanted or knew that the house needed to keep, but the abundance of tapestries, pots and strange looking objects needed to go.

She had put up many notices in the paper about these several objects and had even gone as far as hiring an expert to overlook the items and give Susan rough amounts of their values.

Yesterday, the enigmatic Borgin and Burkes company had expressed interest in a strangely ornate mirror in the Professor's basement, sending a message that a representative would come to collect it and negotiate terms. Susan had seen it in a cursory inspection of the whole house, and thought that it was far too decorative to gather dust in an old house, so had gladly agreed.

It was precisely 10 am, as the letter from Borgin and Burkes had stated, that the representative had arrived. Susan had gone to answer the door and invited him inside. He was pale, just like Susan, but where Susan looked healthily pale, like cream, his skin looked delicate paper and distinctly unhealthy. His eyes were brown and his sleek combed hair was jet-black, the same shade as Susan's.

"My name is Tom Riddle," he had said, in oddly soft voice. Susan had noticed oddities about him, such as the fact; despite the lack of an umbrella or any form of visible transport, Tom Riddle was perfectly dry on a stormy day. It wasn't normal, but what about Susan's life could have been considered normal?

"Susan Pevensie," she had said brusquely, extending a hand.

He took it and made the motion to kiss it, as was the courtesy with unmarried women in Europe. Susan had smirked at that, someone who knew proper manners was always refreshing. "A delight to make your acquaintance, Miss Pevensie." He'd said.

"And I yours." she'd answered, feeling oddly like it was a speech that had been repeated before. "Now, would you like a cup of anything? Tea, Coffee?" she'd asked him as was the courtesy.

He'd been watching her with attentive eyes and nodded slowly. 'Tea, if I may." He'd said, a quirk at his lips that wasn't entirely friendly.

Susan had finally recognized the look when he leant on the kitchen counter as she'd heated the kettle; it had been the same look that Rabadash had given her, back when she had been Queen Susan the Gentle, Miss Susan Pevensie. That whole affair had ended badly, but Susan then had known that Rabadash was no good. She had ignored it there. She knew that she mustn't now.

She poured the milk in and asked him whether he'd wanted sugar with his. He politely declined, his gaze resting on her face still. Susan knew that if she had actually been the age that her body was, she would have been seduced by his handsome looks. Even now, she felt a twinge as she looked at his face, a twinge that wanted to change him, bring him back to the course of Aslan and of light, but then she'd met his gaze again and all illusion of being able to change him disappeared from her head.

"Now that the niceties have been upheld," Susan had said, feeling a sense of anxiety, "I'll show you the mirror."

She'd led him down the stairs, and he'd politely commented on how beautiful the house looked. She told him that it had belonged to a friend of hers who had recently departed from this world. His face had made the expression of sorrow at her loss, but his eyes held nothing but contempt. Susan was now convinced that he was Tash's servant, and there was no redemption for one like him.

They'd entered the basement which was now sparkling from the work that Susan and the maids had put in for the last few days. He'd gone to it straight away and gazed into it, an expression of utter delight on his face as he'd looked into it. But it was a cold, harsh, hungry delight that was etched into the cold paper of his skin and Susan could have sworn that his eyes had flashed red as he'd looked at it.

"The mirror was created in 1773, for King Louis XVI of France's wife, Marie Antoinette. A courtly gift from the Marquis de Condorcet, to add to Marie's toilette to ensure that he would gain the position of Controller-General of Finance to the King. It cost around 200,000 écu at the time and is still worth around that equivalent." Susan had recited, remembering the research notes that the Professor had left in the house's inventory guide for the tour-guides after Mrs. Macready.

Tom Riddle seemed to lose the trance-like state he had portrayed in front of the mirror, and his face was impassive. "Borgin and Burkes will offer no more than £70 for this clearly crass piece of work." He said, adding a truly aristocratic sneer at the end of the word.

"Nonsense," argued Susan, "It's worth at least 400!" This was lying through her teeth; the professional auctioneer had placed its worth at around 150 pounds.

He twitched a little, but his face didn't change. "That's absolute tosh. 100, and I'll go no further."

Susan placed a fake expression of sadness upon her face. "I simply can't sell it for that little an amount. I shall have to sell it to another dealer, who can cut me a better deal."

Riddle had allowed an expression of horror onto his face which was quickly replaced by a smooth, flattering tone. "My masters simply won't buy it for anymore than 200. I cannot offer you more than that, _Miss Pevensie_." He'd purred those last two words and Susan had felt a shudder go up her spine. If she hadn't seen the red in his eyes and the hate hidden inside him, she would have easily played that manipulative game of equals with him and she would have lost.

Susan only let a frown upon her face, as she registered his actual words, but underneath rejoiced with all the hope of a schoolgirl. That was 50 over the estimated price. "I can reluctantly accept that, Mr. Riddle. _Coming from you…_" She mustn't fall into the trap of believing that she cared for her or that she cared for him. It was a ploy, and always would be.

He'd smirked then and placed a cold hand upon her shoulder. "I thank you,_ Miss Pevensie_." He'd whispered in Susan's ear and it had taken all the self-restraint that she had possessed to prevent herself running away from him, screaming in fear. _Aslan, give me strength. _

He'd pulled out the necessary money and Susan had accepted with a smooth smile on her face. She didn't miss the hungry look he threw towards the mirror, nor the fact that the money seemed to come from his chequebook and not from the company chequebook. She wondered whether the mirror would ever see the store at all, but pushed it into the back of her mind, as she'd accompanied him to the front door. He'd thanked her once more and hoped that they'd meet again. Susan outwardly expressed the same but inwardly balked at even the thought of it.

She'd hurried to a window, after bidding him a good day, wondering how he would make his way home without transport or an umbrella, but for the life of her couldn't see where he had got to. He either walked tremendously fast, or mysterious forces were at work here. Susan didn't believe in consequences. Not when the next day, three women with long black hair and blue eyes were found murdered in their homes, a look of fear on their faces.

Susan thanked Aslan that it hadn't been four.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Chance Meeting**

**Chapter 2**

**AN: Thanks for all the response that this has gained! Hopefully this next chapter does an equally good job in drama, in perhaps a….different way. This will be a three-shot. For any additional info on Susan's life, go to my profile and read 'The Dilemma'. **

Susan tucked her gun under her armpit as her men surrounded the tall skyscraper building. The date was 1978, and inside this inconspicuous, office building was a magical threat to the country. As head of MI6, she had been informed of the wizarding world situation by her equivalent in their world, a man called Croaker, the Head of the Department of Mysteries when she'd taken the position in '74. He'd explained that there were several events that she had heard of in the 'muggle world' as he'd called it, that were caused by the wizarding criminals.

In Susan's mind, nothing had changed. There were bad people out there that needed to be stopped. Magical criminals just required…different techniques to subdue. She was well aware that she wasn't supposed to be out in the field at her age, 52 was supposedly too old for a field agent to be in their prime, but looking up at the building, she was very glad that she had thought this particular tip-off, predominantly suspicious.

"There is a 'dark mark' over this building. Somebody is dead, over." She spoke into the hand-held transceiver that was developed to look smaller and be without its large and overly bulky powerpack. She had heard about this Lord Voldemort from the head of the Auror department who had stopped by in a cabinet meeting to explain the situation with all of the suspicious deaths. He'd also informed her that should they encounter wizarding people, they would send in Auror rookies to help out as much as they could.

"Copy that, ma'am." called the crackly voice of her next-in-command, Peterson, across the line, "We'll take extra care with this case."

"You do that." Susan said, before beckoning her team into the building. There was no one in the immediate vicinity. "Split up into pairs," she said in a low tone, knowing that whispers carried further.

"But there is an odd number of us, ma'am! Letty's ill!" spoke up the newest addition to their team, Simons, looking nervous.

"I'll go alone, then." said Susan firmly, overriding the protests from the other spies. She could more than take care of herself and heavens knew that Aslan needed to keep her alive. Nothing would touch her.

They all split down different corridors, taking staircases and lifts. Susan chose to take a floor near the middle. She walked down the hallway, careful to muffle her footsteps. She opened every door that was open and kicked down the door that were locked. It seemed like the whole passageway was empty until she came to the final room. Susan opened the door, with next to no trepidation, when to her surprise, a man in black robes turned around, a young, dead girl dropping to the ground, limply from his grasp.

His face was distorted, with his skin being like cold, white marble, his previously soulful brown eyes a glowing red and his expression contorted into that of hate.

"Tom?" she called, feeling surprised and slightly shocked. The image of the young, handsome man who had acted politely, if in a sinister manner didn't seem to match up with this monster, but nevertheless, his features were instantly recognizable.

"Susan Pevensie." He said, "What a pleasure to see you again. Time hasn't worn out your beauty."

"You'll find that it's Susan Carmichael now." Susan said, holding up her left hand with her silver wedding ring.

He looked at her with an expression, that if Susan wasn't trained to detect them she might have missed, regret. Then he smirked. "In that case, it's Lord Voldemort now."

She hissed sharply. The man leading all of these murders was Tom? How people fell. "Then you are magical and evil." She said, raising her gun up at him.

"Evil is a word that powerless people use to feel better about themselves. Even if you are a muggle, I never pegged you for a powerless type. And put down your gun, muggle weapons are nothing against magic." He said, a stick of wood summoned into his hand almost effortlessly as he pointed it at her.

It reminded her sharply of the White Witch and caused Susan to aim her gun there and quickly shoot a shot at the wooden weapon. To her surprise, the bullet seemed to bounce off a point of air about eight inches from the wand and rebounded towards her. She ducked and it embedded itself in the wall. Someone would have heard the shot. Backup would come.

"Avada Kedavra!" called Tom and a bolt of green light shot at her. Susan ducked and ran quickly into his personal space and made to punch him. Her hand hit a point around eight inches away from him and the recoil sent Susan backwards. She realized that he was protected by some kind of shield. But even a shield would break under large pressure.

Susan ducked another red bolt that was accompanied by the word "Crucio!" and emptied her magazine of bullets at one point of his shield, near his legs. His shield broke halfway through the clip and four bullets embedded themselves in his leg. He howled in pain and another green light shot towards her. It missed Susan's arm by a hairs width and Susan contented herself with the savage thought that he wasn't as strong as the White Witch. Her spells were not uttered, unless, her mind supplied from one of Digory's lectures, it was the Deplorable Word.

Susan ducked again and went for her knife. Now that his shield was broken, she dived her his chest with the knife. To her surprise, her knife bounced off again, the recoil jerking the knife out of her hand. She dived to the floor to get the knife again, but her hand was stepped on by Tom, a savage grin on his face as he crushed the bones in her left hand.

"Prepare to die, Susan," he said, smirking, as he raised his wand. Just as Susan got ready to dive at him again, even if it would be futile, the door banged open with two young men with black hair and a girl with red hair!

"Voldemort!" called the girl, shooting a red spell at him, wordlessly. Susan wondered whether she was more powerful than Tom, and was dissuaded by the three red spells sent towards the children wordlessly.

The black haired boy with glasses immediately summoned a table from behind Susan to block all three and the boy with a cocky smirk, uttered something under his breath and turned the table into cloud of black smoke, which started descending on Tom. Susan's hand had been freed and Susan gripped the knife with her good hand and waited until Tom was sufficiently distracted.

She blinked as he effortlessly turned the smoke into a ring of fire that whipped around their heads, sending the three children backwards. Then, to her surprise, he started to talk.

"You are all pureblood students, aren't you? Potter, Black—"

"Lily Evans!" the red –headed girl interrupted, looking smug, "Mudblood and proud of it! So don't try your 'join me' spiel. It won't happen."

Tom looked almost disgusted. "Then you Potter? Or Black? Your cousin was very eager to join my ranks. Join me and I will spare you. Your talents are many."

"Never!" spat the kid with glasses. "The Potter family will always be against you!"

"And think again, if you think I'm anything like dear Trixie!" said the cocky boy, now identified as Black, sending a succession of three quick purple spells towards the dark-robed man that were absorbed into Tom's shield. "I will never join you, you sick bastard!"

The fight started again, but this time, Susan didn't pay any mind to the spells darting around her. She instead crawled behind Tom, being careful to avoid his immediate stepping backward. She knew that the kids could see her. She only hoped that they wouldn't react. It was too much to ask for. Just as Susan was about to stab the knife into his cold, black heart, Lily gasped and Tom moved to the side. The knife hit his shoulder and he looked infuriated as he turned around to throttle her.

Jus then, the door slammed open again, revealing all of the spies, armed with their several weapons. Voldemort (because he was no longer Tom) sneered, whispered something to her before turning on the spot and disappearing in a whoosh of black smoke.

The team started to analyse the area and the medic gripped Susan's hand and started treating its wounds.

"Don't." said Lily, "I'll treat that. It's the least we could do. I'm sorry I reacted. You would have stabbed him otherwise."

Susan nodded towards the medic and he left. The three children swarmed her and as the girl started muttering spells over Susan's hand, the two boys looked excited. "I've never seen a muggle be that brave before! That was amazing!" said the Black boy.

Lily glared at him. "Really Sirius! Don't call her muggle. It reduces her."

Sirius shrugged and while the Potter boy looked apologetic, he winked at Susan and she smiled back at them. She liked their spirit. "Well," she said, wiggling her newly regained fingers as Lily finished her spells, "I am a veteran after all. I served in the Second World War. Once you've faced down a tank, a once-handsome man is nothing. He was scarier back when he was 20."

"You've met him before?" asked the Potter boy, looking incredulous. "And you are still alive?"

"James!" exclaimed Lily again, and Susan had a feeling that she was used to reprimanding the two.

"I was very lucky. He wasn't truly evil when I met him. He was teetering on the boundary." Susan said, feeling slightly remorseful. When she had met him, he had been Tash's servant. Now, he was a monster. Inhuman. Could she have prevented that?

"What did he say to you?" asked Sirius, looking curious as Susan nodded to the team to depart the building.

"SIRIUS!" Lily screamed and the spies either jumped or looked annoyed.

"Don't worry, Lily dear." Susan said, ignoring her gasp at her knowing her name, "I don't mind answering. It was a threat. He said he would come and strike me where I would be effected the most. An idle threat, nothing more."

Sirius looked surprised. "He wanted to personally kill you? That's so not to be taken lightly, lady. If you are on Voldemort's kill list, you'll be dead in a week. You'll need wizard protection."

Susan drew herself to her full height. "Young man, as head of MI6, the one thing I am not short on, is protection!"

"Anyway Siri," said James looking slightly scared, "We're on his 'to kill list' now. Not a chance that we aren't. We're going to survive for more than a week, what's to say this lady can't?"

Susan nodded. "You're speaking sense, kid. Now go on, haven't you got some report to deal with? You're the auror rookies that the Head of Department sends along, right?" she said, cracking out her neck.

They nodded. "We're also part of the Order of t—" Sirius was stopped mid-sentence by a hand to the mouth by James, who looked panicked.

"Ignore Sirius," said James looking strained, "We aren't double agents, I'll assure you that."

"But you are working for someone else on the same side." Susan said dryly. Lily looked panicked and she waved it off. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I grew up amongst secrets and lies, I can keep one more. Be more careful next time, you never who is listening. Au revoir, kids. Hopefully, I won't see you again."

They nodded and she walked away from them. "Wait!" Susan heard a call from behind her. Sirius Black looked at her, looking very appreciative. "What's your name?"

Susan toyed with giving them a fake name, but it didn't sit well with her. Something about these honest, innocent kids put her in the mindset of when she dealt with Lucy. "Susan Carmichael." She said, "Head of MI6." With that, she nodded in their direction and walked out of the building, cursing Adrian Cobb for letting this particular mission fall to MI6 instead of MI5. She had a phantom ache in her hand and she was worse for the wear on the moral front.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Chance Meeting**

**Chapter 3**

**AN: Thanks again for all of the response! Here's the third and last chapter. **

Susan had known about the magical world since she had became Head of MI6, but it hadn't been interesting to her. Due to Tom and his arrogance and cruelty, magic would always remind her of Jadis and the cold cruel sneer and the knife in Edmund's side. So, it was indeed a surprise when Meghan Bronach Carmichael, her grand-daughter was one day sent a letter inviting her to Hogwarts school.

It was even more surprising that her older brother Nathaniel Bartimaeus had not been invited to this special school. She was thankful for his close support of his younger sister (possibly influenced by his best friend and co-conspirator Alex Rider), yet slightly annoyed by the distance that Leonard and Alicia gave Meghan at the holidays that Meghan came back home again. Susan swore, that no matter what, she'd remain at Meghan's side, be the doting grandmother and a shoulder to lean on when her burden became too much.

So, it was unsurprising to Susan that Meghan arrived at her house in the Easter Holidays of 2008 instead of her own parents' house.

"Meghan?" Susan asked as Meghan came into Susan's large house large house in the country, her eyes red-rimmed, dragging a suitcase.

"Mum finally kicked me out." Meghan whispered as she rubbed at her face. Susan quickly drew her in and closed the door. "I think the flock of owls that came at me for my birthday this year finally did it for her. She says she still loves me but can't deal with me being so abnormal. There was another shouting match."

Susan groaned, her family had to gain Lucy's and Peter's tempers over hers, didn't they? "Not again. Between who?"

"Nate and Mum. Nate said that Mum was being irrational and that it was all perfectly fine and Mum started screeching that owls weren't normal. While they were distracted, Alex got me upstairs and said that he'd better evacuate me now before Mum started throwing crockery again. I packed and came here. First place I could think of." recited Meghan as she perched on Susan's sofa.

Susan put her arm around Meghan and pulled her into a hug. Meghan started crying again. "Why doesn't she love me like a normal mother should?" whispered Meghan to Susan.

"She does love you. She just doesn't love the baggage you come with." consoled Susan, saying the only thing she felt could accuse her daughter-in-law's actions.

Meghan sniffed. "I didn't mean to set her off. I only asked her whether she and Dad, when he came back from Florence, would want to come to the party at Hogwarts."

"What party?" asked Susan, as she leant back in her chair, as Meghan continued to sniffle.

"There was a war in the wizarding world ten years ago. Hogwarts was destroyed on May the First exactly ten years ago. People wanted to go celebrate how far they've come since then. Also, they'll be unveiling a new school structure and subjecting ideas for next years electives." said Meghan, "Everyone in the school is invited to come and bring guests. I thought Mum and Dad might want to see Hogwarts in person."

Susan looked at Meghan's distraught face and decided that her old bones could survive one more trip up and around some old castle that was the centre of Meghan's life. "Of course I'll be coming. I wouldn't count on your father returning by then. From what he said, he's on a terrorist scour of Italy. What luck he'll have in succeeding, I don't know, but he likes to try a lot."

Meghan nodded dolefully. "You think you'll like it?" asked Meghan.

Susan smiled. "I know I'll love it."

(X)

It was May the First and the long-winded speeches of many government officials about war and Hogwarts and progress and lessons had drifted over Susan in favour of giving the crowd surrounding them a once over. Once a spy, always a spy. Just like a Monarch of Narnia. She hadn't noticed too much amiss, apart from the conspicuous population of redheads near the front and the large baby boom amongst the younger adults there.

Hogwarts was just as wonderful as Meghan described, and despite looking nothing like it, it had the aura of Cair Paravel. Susan had felt at home amongst the friendly ghosts, whom she had barely batted an eye at, the talking portraits and occasional house elf. She had let herself be towed by an excitable Meghan through the Ravenclaw common room, despite it being in the tallest tower of the school; something about the castle, gave Susan a new vigour. It was almost like having Sebastian alive again. And maybe, if she concentrated, the dark brown hair of Meghan faded away to be replaced by Lucy dragging her away from the Duke of Radhaven and potential embarrassment.

Susan was shaken out of her reverie by a large deal of clapping and everyone getting up from their golden seats. "Is that over then, Meggie?" asked Susan as she heaved herself up, feeling her bones creak a little, in spite of her newly found verve.

"The lecturing is over, in any case." said Meghan, shooting Susan a significantly bored glance.

"What now, then?' asked Susan, following the crowd out of the large doors.

"Why now? Now, we party." Said Meghan, deftly finding a house-elf and grabbing two flutes of a sparkling orange fluid that fizzed at the top. "To your health, Gran!"

"However long it lasts," said Susan darkly, taking a sip of the drink. She was surprised by the tang and the heat. A vivid image of kissing a dryad in the midst of autumn amongst the swirling red leaves of beech trees crossed her mind and Susan wrenched away from Narnia with a pang of her heart.

"What is this, Meghan?" asked Susan, staring down at the drink.

"Butterbeer. Favoured drink of most underage wizards." said Meghan, smiling, "Good, isn't it?"

"If you say so. So tell me, because I tuned out the official explanation," said Susan, as she cautiously sipped from the drink, "Why has this war occurred?"

Her grand-daughter rambled a bit about how blood purity was like Hitler's intentions with pure Aryan blood and things about civil rights for black people and Susan felt herself tune out. This castle was far too much like home. Every stone seemed to bring a memory of Narnia back. If she focused, she could almost see mermaids and mermen in the Lake.

"And then Voldemort was killed by Har—" Susan held up a hand.

"Voldemort?" Susan asked, her face paling.

"Yes, Voldemort. He used to be known as Tom Riddle, but then he called himself Lord Voldemort. People started getting afraid of him, so they stopped saying his name in case they accidentally summoned him or something foolish like that. Called him things like, 'You-Know-Who' and 'He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named'." Meghan recited as she took another drink from a house-elf.

"And he's dead now?" Susan asked, giving her empty glass to the elf with a grateful thank you; in Narnia you treated your servants well, because they served from choice.

"Yes." said Meghan.

"Does he have a grave?" Susan asked as Meghan started pulling them away from the crowd.

"I've…I've never really thought about it." said Meghan, looking shocked that she hadn't thought about it. Susan nearly laughed; Meghan's unquenchable quest for knowledge always made her laugh. Susan was content to know what she knew and trust Aslan, in her old age. "I think Harry Potter would know." She said, firmly and started dragging Susan towards the red-head contingent.

"Mr Potter!" Meghan cried as she approached the short black-haired man.

"Ah, Miss Carmichael. If I remember correctly, you were one of the more enthusiastic questioners of me last year. Ravenclaw, yes?" asked Harry Potter, with a wry smile on his face.

Meghan flushed and nodded. "In my defence, it was really interesting and no one else could answer my questions." Susan's grand-daughter said, looking awfully sheepish. "Anyway, my grandmother wanted to know whether Voldemort had a grave."

To Susan's surprise, the young man drew out a stick of wood and pointed it straight at Susan's chest. Having been confronted by several rifles in a previous time, Susan's didn't react, merely raised an eyebrow. "What do you want with his grave?" asked Harry, his voice low and menacing.

"I assure you, Mr. Potter, I have no reason to bring him back to life or any other strange magical rituals. I have no doubt that he would kill me the moment he regained his senses. After all, I knew him as Tom Riddle and he wanted to erase that part of his life, did he not?" Susan drawled, meeting Harry's eyes with a practised ease. Harry nodded cautiously but didn't drop his wand.

"Go on." said Harry, looking cautiously at Susan.

"I am a Christian, Mr. Potter. I believe that every person deserves at least one mourner at their grave, evil or no." said Susan, as primly as she could manage.

Harry frowned but then his red-headed wife smiled at Susan and started talking to Harry in his ear. After a few moments, he dropped his wand, nodded and Susan smiled. "I'm afraid though, Mrs Carmichael? That I'll have to escort you alone. Without your grand-daughter."

Susan glanced towards Meghan. "You'll be okay for a bit without me, won't you? Go find some of your friends."

Meghan nodded. "See you later, Gran!"

Harry Potter was already stalking away towards the woods and Susan followed him at distance. "Slow down, Mr Potter. My strength saps away at 79 years of age."

The black-haired man slowed down. "How far into the forest is his grave, Mr. Potter?" Susan asked as she walked at an average pace.

"A lot." said the man, shortly.

There was an uncomfortable silence when Susan spoke up. "Do you have any relation to James Potter?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, he was my father.", he confirmed, looking a little confused. "Why? Do I look like him?" he asked, clearly bored with the question.

Susan shook her head. "You act like him. He saved my life once. Tom was about to kill me when your father, a redheaded girl called—"

"- Lily Evans." Harry broke in, with a smile. At Susan's quizzical look, he clarified, "She was my mother."

Susan nodded. "Your parents and a black haired man called Sirius Black burst into the room, and saved me from Tom. I did however fail to kill him because of those three."

Harry smiled. "Sirius was my late godfather."

Susan nodded. "I am sorry. He was an amusing young man."

Harry nodded and they lapsed back into the silence. "Why would you want to see his grave if he tried to kill you?" asked Harry as the canopy thickened and the light source decreased.

"It wasn't always that way." said Susan, remembering his first visit with her. "He used to have something human about him. I might have loved him once."

Harry threw her a look of incredulity. She rolled her eyes. "It's hard to believe now, but when I first met him, I was 20 and very beautiful. He was similarly very handsome and very polite. Young womens' heads have been turned over less. If I had been a little less mature, I would have pursued him. As it was, after the death of my entire family and friends, I had affairs that needed sorting out and handsome young men were the last thing on my mind."

Harry shook his head and shuddered. "It's a little debilitating to think of the white skinned, no nosed, snake like man being a handsome young man that people were attracted to. But, I'd seen people's memories of him when he was young and he looked a lot like me. He was charming when he wanted to be."

Susan nodded. "That he was." She said and they continued walking.

They entered a large clearing with many flowers and other such plants, but the first thing that drew Susan's attention was a blackened, nearly dead tree. It was old and was starting to grow in on itself and by the scratching marks on the bark of the tree, Susan assumed that this was where Tom Riddle was buried. Harry lingered on the edge of the clearing but Susan walked in and plucked a wildflower from the grass beside her and placed it on his grave.

"Edmund could have been you. Perhaps this is the only reason why you linger in my head, but Edmund could have been you. And I wonder someday, if I had done my duty to Aslan, might you have turned out to be good? Could you have been redeemed? Did I write you off too soon?"

Susan paused and looked at the tree. "I suppose even you deserve a eulogy. Even if you fulfilled your promise and killed my husband and light of my life. Despite all of your murders, you still deserve something. I don't know if someone loved you. I don't know if you even had any family. I don't know much about you or your life at all, but I promise you Tom, you won't be forgotten. The wizarding world will remember you as the villain and I will remember you as the charming, yet cold young boy I met when I was mourning the death of my beloved siblings."

Susan took a deep breath in. "Your name will be remembered. I don't know if Fame was what you wanted, but you got it. Even if you lost your power. Goodbye Tom Riddle. I don't know if you are in heaven or hell, but I hope that you endure."

Susan stood up and calmed herself. Bringing up old memories hurt, like pulling off a scab from something she had tried to forget. "Come on Mr. Potter. They will miss you from the party soon enough."

"I'm sorry, I gave you your privacy, but I couldn't help but overhearing something about duty. Whatever did you mean?" asked Harry as they started to trek back.

Susan paused for a minute. "Mr Potter," she said after a while, "Do you believe in God?"

Harry looked taken aback. "I'm not sure," he answered after a couple of shocked minutes, "We celebrate the holidays, but I never really went to church or anything like that. I just can't really believe he exists without proof."

Susan nodded. "I think, I would have been like you if I hadn't met Aslan. Once you've met the son of God, it's hard to not believe in God."

Harry nodded and Susan started her story. "My brother Edmund was going down a path of hate. He delighted in tormenting my little sister Lucy and he just looked gleeful when my brother Peter and Mother shouted at him. He never really targeted me, but I knew that he wasn't like us. We all despaired; no one could understand why he was so different to the rest of us. Mother blamed his schooling, but it was something more than that. He was just spiteful. Lucy prayed to God a lot of the time and I think Peter started praying too. It wasn't until when he seemed to be happy about the war, that I started praying too."

At this, Susan paused as Harry looked like he was going to ask a question. "Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan. Was your maiden name by any chance Pevensie?" he asked, looking a little quizzical.

Susan smirked. "You've read Clive's books then?"

"It's hailed as a children's classic. I read it to my children and they love it." said Harry, with a small smile, that Susan did not reciprocate. She had so loathed those books.

"Let me continue my story anyway, because Narnia wasn't that simple childish world that Clive portrayed it as. When we arrived in Narnia, Edmund was redeemed. Edmund never knew this, but the price for his redemption was to be paid by Lucy, Peter and I. A promise that we would redeem those like our brother, that we saw on our path. And we did, until they died and I carried on. Tom was the first person I needed to redeem after their death. And, I was too scared, that I fail. So I did not try at all, and he became that monster."

Susan's voice had filled with self-loathing and she turned towards Harry. "I suppose I have you to thank."

Harry looked surprised. "Me? What did I do?"

"You killed him, did you not? You fulfilled the part of my duty I was unable to. It was our duty to redeem them or give them back to Aslan. I could fulfil neither. So I thank you for doing my duty. There are days I wonder, that if I had managed to kill him, would this world be a better place." pondered Susan, as the canopy's thickness decreased.

"When did you meet him?" Harry asked.

"When I was 21 and when I was 52. He was a monster when I was 52." said Susan, feeling bitter.

"Do not blame yourself Susan. No one would have expected a 52 years old Muggle woman to bring down one of the most powerful, if, insane wizards in this century. No, I do not believe that your 'Aslan' would not blame you and I believe that you shouldn't blame yourself." said Harry, placing a hand on Susan's wrist.

Susan looked at him gratefully. "Do you really believe so?"

Harry smiled. "I know so. Anyway, you wouldn't have been able to kill him anyway. I was destined to kill him. A prophecy. A self-fulfilling one, but a prophecy nonetheless."

Susan smiled. "I know a fair bit about prophecies and how they are self-fulfilling. If Jadis had not let us become the symbol of hope to the talking animals, she would never have been overthrown."

"See? No one blames you Susan. No one apart from yourself." said Harry as they broke out of the forest, facing the large castle in the rays of the setting sun.

"Ahhhh." Susan breathed out deeply, a cloud of steam coming from her mouth. "If I squint, I can see my Cair Paravel in the place of your Hogwarts. I have never visited any place that has felt anything like Narnia, not until I came here."

Harry nodded. "If I squint, I can see it too. You know, my friend Luna has many theories about something called the many-world-hypothesis. It states that every world that ever existed are superimposed on top of each other, in thin films. On days of magic, like today, Beltane; Luna says that the film between the worlds gets thinner. Perhaps you are actually seeing Narnia?"

Susna shook her head. "You didn't pay attention to the books. Narnia was destroyed. It was Aslan's will. His people transcended on to his paradise., and my family went with them."

"You'll get back there." Said Harry immediately and Susan grinned.

"Of that, I have no doubt. I just wonder, whether Sebastian will be able to accept me as the Gentle Queen as well as his wife." She queried.

Harry shrugged. "Having never met the man, I wouldn't know. But if he loved you, he would accept you. Just like Ginny accepted all my quirks that came with being the saviour of the wizarding world."

Susan nodded. She was now suddenly tired, her memories sapping her strength. "We should depart to the castle. They will be waiting."

"Of course Mrs Carmichael," said Harry, his formal voice back on show. Susan slipped up her mask and together they walked back to the white (or was it brown) castle of Hogwarts.


End file.
